Four years ago, i attended Jerald's graduation performance at Singapore's oldest hotel and it's amazing how time flies as we get older; just last week, it's Jovyn's turn.
The musical for Pat's Schoolhouse (Serangoon and Jubilee Park) in 2017 was Charlie & The Chocolate Factory although there were individual class performances known as Starry Tales!
Tickets were needed to access the hall and nothing's better than a special golden ticket for each of us! Gosh, the amount of work that went into the performances was incredible compared to the time when i was a kindergarten kid.
Entering the Lee Choon Guan theatre which was built in 2008; in comparison, Jerald's performance was held at the older Raffles' Hotel Jubilee Hall that opened in 1991.
Bloody - we were given front row seating!
Don't get me wrong; as a family member, i am darn happy to be seated so near to the main stage as Jovyn would definitely be able to see us! As a photographer, however, the stage-right position means my angle would always be skewed. :(
Shhhhhh, it's starting!
That's our big girl and she was standing so close to us! Obviously, she noticed us and i did see the little boy next to her; isn't that her best friend that i have posted before at this blog entry?
Singing time by the entire graduation cohort from two branches of Pat's Schoolhouse! I couldn't recall if it is the English song "We the Children" or the Mandarin classic xinyao "细水长流".
Now, i don't recall this scene from Jerald's K2 graduation where each graduant will receive a gift from the principal of the school. Maybe because i was late for Jerald's performance.
Teachers belting out a song before the show starts. Nowadays, being a kindergarten teacher is so tough and i bet one of the criteria is to be multi-talented!
Starry Tales - Act 1 (10 Gifted Brothers)
In a nutshell, starry tales is a collection of five fables / legends with a moral message. For this particular act, many Chinese should aware who the ten brothers are as each was gifted with a special power.
The story of the ten brothers was adapted into a drama serial and even as a movie!
For the purpose of this performance, the storyline concentrated on a sick mother who could only be cured by a magical phoenix egg kept by a local magistrate.
Although the brothers were caught, the punishments meted out were negated given their powers. They were eventually let off and granted a star in view of their filial piety.
Closure of Act 1.
Starry Tales - Act 2 (Halibu and the Red Ruby)
Shone by a dedicated spotlight, a fairy started each act with a prologue and i missed out on Act 1 as the little gal had stepped outside the light, making it hard for my camera to focus.
A snake princess with a precious stone that allowed the carrier to understand the languages of animals. The only disadvantage is that the carrier cannot tell other people what he/she heard from the animals; failing which he/she would be turned into a stone!
Congregation of little birds that knows a great deal about natural disasters.
Our Jovyn as one of the birds! I can see that she really enjoyed performing; maybe my sister and brother in law can send her for dancing / acting classes instead as she seems pretty weak in her academics.
End of Act 2
Starry Tales - Act 4 (Xiaohei Goes Up To Hope Mountain)
Missed out on Act 3 as the pictures didn't turn out well.
Act 4 talks about a boy who couldn't study due to his poverty and decided to go up to the hope mountain to pluck a star of desire. He promised a neighbour he will bring back another star to heal his leg but sadly, a person can only bring back one star. Will he give it to his neighbour?
Starry Tales - Act 4 (Yanzi, The Witty Envoy)
Setup for this act was by far the most massive and in addition, one kid was somersaulting; i don't even know how to somersault!
Magnificent for a kindergarten performance!
Why was the kid emperor looking at me?! Haha. Anyway, this story was about the envoy of the state of Chu who visited the state of Qi to maintain relations between the two warring states.
Jovyn came on stage again as it's time for everyone to gather together to conclude first part of their performance; the Starry Tales segment.
Let's break for an interlude where lunch was served. As i just had a filling wanton noodle with tons of crispy pork lard at Ghim Moh food centre less the three hours ago, i couldn't stomach another full meal!
For sale - pictures taken during full dress rehearsals and target would be the parents who prefer to fork out a bit of money for better photographs! My sister and brother-in-law preferred to rely on me instead.
Gateways for the two performances; personally, even though they were good to have, i thought it would be best to place them in another location so that guests who didn't want to have pictures taken of the gateway wouldn't have to be held up by other guests who were keen!
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
Oompa-Loompas starting the show with dancing and singing! Frankly, the lack of sleep the night before had taken a toll on me as i kept yawning throughout the performance!
Anyway, i am not going to give much of a summary about Charlie & The Chocolate Factory since i bet most of you would be aware of how the story goes.
There's a slight variation which supplemented the original story; the rock and roll show where the lucky golden ticket holders were announced.
Jovyn was one of the hosts for the show! I know she's holding on to the microphone but it's for show only. I don't have much faith for kids their age to remember their lines and it's likely easier to dub the lines beforehand and for them to act out on site instead.
More pictures of Jovyn, including her signature pose at the end!
The poor Charlie finally getting his golden ticket and jumping with joy upon tearing apart the wrapper of willy wonka's chocolate bar.
With all five golden tickets found, it's about time to enter the mysterious factory and be welcomed by its eccentric owner; Mr Willy Wonka himself!
I am going to spare you my lousy storytelling although i guess you would have known the misfortune of the four kids; Violet Beauregarde, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt and Mike Teavee.
Cutest character throughout this performance wasn't the Oompa-Loompas. Rather, i am rather taken in by the child-sized squirrels; they looked absolutely adorable!
Happy Ending!
All the performers coming together for the grand finale.
Of course, credits to the hardworking teachers! As Jerald is an alumnus from the Serangoon branch of Pat's Schoolhouse, he knew quite a number of Jovyn's teachers; the most memorable one that i recall is this Teacher Jia who is easily recognised due to her towering height.
Jovyn giving me the V sign!
Her good friend, Oppa, covering his ears for a reason i am fully aware of as the same thing had happened during Jerald's graduation performance.
Confetti time!
Once the curtains were drawn, family members were invited to stand next to their kid's bag of belongings outside the theatre.
Family members eagerly waiting for the march in; should the same thing happen during my time, i can bet my mum will argue it's a waste of time and there's no way my dad will skip his work just to attend my performance!
Time has changed and in the present era, corporal punishment is frowned upon by society and given the immense stress faced by the younger generation, there's a need to instil not just love but also encouragement.
Jerald is easily Jovyn's biggest fan and that's surprising given the latter's temper! However, i sure hope that the sibling love will continue even when they are older as puberty and the need for recognition among peers can alter the family dynamics.
Pictures with the family!
Hugging time between Jovyn and her best friend. On one hand, i am happy Jovyn is advancing to primary one next year but on the other hand, i am also sad that she might no longer be in contact with these friends she spent so much time with in the past few years.
And our Jovyn has so many guy friends! This is quite similar to her mom who tends to have more guy friends than girl friends. Darn, see how her best friend was holding her by her shoulder?! So cute right!?
Okay lah, she has girl friends too!
On a final note, my deepest gratitude to the teachers and staff of Pat's Schoolhouse who have groomed our Jovyn well since 2014; i have seen her transformed from a tiny, needy toddler who couldn't manage a full sentence to a little confident girl who speaks too much!
Keen to know how much she has changed? You may check out my post on her "last week in the talent plus playgroup at Yishun".